Remove Dark Circles Before Your Quinceanera

Beauty sleep and big smiles! Ah, the quinceanera! You’ve finally turned fifteen and you want to look perfect for your big day. You spend the days leading up to the party laughing and chatting with cousins and friends, and everyone has advice for you. The whole family gets involved in organizing things and everyone wants to impart their words of wisdom. You can’t do better than the matriarchs of Hispanic families for advice on how to look, but usually all you’ll get is a “Go to sleep early” or “Dance a lot and smile during the party!” Some specific ideas would be useful, would they? How do you get rid of dark circles in the days leading up to the big party, for instance?

Your eyes are supposed to be the windows to your soul. Do you want them ringed by ugly unattractive dark circles? Dark circles can ruin an otherwise perfect look. Your face is the first thing anybody looks at. You don’t want to look sleepy and puffy-eyed on your big day.

Firstly, what are dark circles? Dark circles are dark colored circles around your eyes, which indicate fatigue, over strain, lack of sleep, recent recovery from illness or undernourishment. By themselves, dark circles cause no harm. They are quite common and they need not always indicate health problems.

They do, however, pose a serious personal beauty problem. How can you, in just a week’s time lose those dark circles and look fresh and re-invigorated?

The first thing you need to do is to get lots of sleep. Lack of sleep and exhaustion causes dark rings around the eyes. Blood rushes to the eyes when you’ve slept too little and darkens the thin skin surrounding them. Lack of sleep can also affect your ability to think quickly and function at your optimum level. Thus, in order to get rid of dark circles and boost your social life as well, make sure you get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night.

The second thing you need to do is switch to a healthy diet. Dark circles can be caused by vitamin deficiencies. A balanced diet will provide you with the anti-oxidants and vitamin C that you need to lighten your eyes and improve your complexion. Make sure you’re eating plenty of fruits and vegetables rich in vitamins. The best thing about this is that it is a healthy and natural beauty solution.

The third solution is home remedies. Apply a cold compress to your eyes from time to time. This constricts blood vessels and whitens the skin, causing dark circles to lighten. Also, drink plenty of water every day. We recommend at least 8 to 10 glasses per day. That aside, try some of these mixtures and pastes, which you can apply around the eyes-

* Put slices of raw potato or cucumber around closed eyelids for about 15 to 20 minutes.

* Apply a mixture made of cucumber juice, lanolin cream and lemon juice around the eyes for 15 to 20 minutes.

* Prepare a mixture of equal quantities of potato and cucumber juice. Dip a cotton swab in this mixture and put the swab around your eyes for 15 to 20 minutes. Wash it off with cold water.

* A mixture of lemon and tomato juice in equal parts is also effective when used around the eyes. This is to be done twice a day.

* A paste of turmeric powder and pineapple juice used the same way can be equally effective.

* Crushed mint around the eyes is a tried and tested home remedy.

* Another solution is massaging almond oil around the eyes at bedtime, daily for about 2 weeks. This is effective against dark circles.

Fourthly, you need some makeup tips, to conceal those horrid dark circles! Use a light concealer around your eyes. You want to look naturally fresh and alert. Select a concealer according to your skin tone. Make sure it’s at least one shade lighter than your skin tone, and then apply it very gently and smoothly. In combination with this, use a Vitamin K serum. This is a two-pronged attack on dark circles. Vitamin K is proven to be effective against dark circles.

Fifthly, using a light eye moisturizer can be very effective. The delicate skin around your eyes is very thin and using moisturizer keeps it smooth and soft, reducing the prominence of the dark circles. Neutrogena’s Eye Reviver cream is one great product for the eyes. The cream is light and tingles just a bit when you use it. It contains a mineral ‘dust’ that lightens your skin by refracting light that hits your eyes. The effect is instant, and stunning!

If you follow the above five steps every day, for a week, you will surely look younger and fresher for your quinceanera. Even if you haven’t been getting that much sleep, these steps can improve your dark circles dramatically.